A few months ago, I was asked this simple question: “Would you want to shoot their portrait?”

Looking back, this is the moment when all the dominoes started to fall. I’ve always had something to say, but I felt as if the message wasn’t getting through. Shooting portraits has finally given me the platform to vocalize my vision, and since then it’s been pretty insane. I’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate and share experiences with some of the most amazing people. The best part? I’ve made lifelong friends, all because I just took someone’s photograph.

Between 1966 and ’67, five Lunar Orbiters snapped pictures onto 70mm film from about 30 miles above the moon. The satellites were sent mainly to scout potential landing sites for manned moon missions. Each satellite would point its dual lens Kodak camera at a target, snap a picture, then develop the photograph. High- and low-resolution photos were then scanned into strips called framelets using something akin to an old fax machine reader.

View the complete set of photos and read the interesting story behind how the images were restored by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project here.

Nicola Odemann has put together another amazing 35mm film set from her recent trip to Iceland. I first found Nicola’s work through her Cargo Collective site about a few years ago, but just now realized she’s also picked-up an Instagram account. Always loved her use of 35mm film, and I love the story about the camera coming from her father. Definitely follow her, as I suspect much more amazing beauty and inspiration from Nicola in the future @wildsommer

Want more? Here’s some interviews with Nicola and collections of her outstanding work:

Luigi Ghirri (1943 – 1992) was an Italian photographer and writer who pioneered colour photography in the vein of conceptual and contemporary art. Although he was recognized and exhibited extensively while alive, full appreciation for his work has occurred posthumously. You can read a more extensive bio and view more of his images here and here.

I find his work appealing primarily because of the nostalgic colours of Kodachrome film, but also for his compositions. He definitely had a certain wit about him, as well as an ability to see and capture moments that others might otherwise miss. As one article states, “…His pictures are not acts of mimesis or replication but ways of exploring reality. They are investigations of the unknown and examine the spiritual and the immaterial world. Photography for Ghirri was a form of poetry and a means of communication; it was a mental habitat where boundaries and territories intersect and fluctuate…”

Behold the aerialscapes of young German photographer, Jakob Wagner. I love the consistency of Wagner’s editing style and color pallets — he does a fantastic job of enhancing textures and shadow details while still keeping the photographs looking clean and natural. It goes without saying, but the locations he’s captured are also truly outstanding.

I highly recommend you check out his portfolio for more of this visual candy.

You may remember seeing the first Lytro light field camera here on the blog back in 2011. If its unconventional box-like shape wasn’t enough to catch your eye, the astounding technology that enabled photographers to adjust the focal point of the image after it had already been captured surely would have. Check out an example below, you can click to change the focal point and scroll to zoom in and out. There are more samples on Lytro’s Gallery page.

Well, now Lytro is back with the next evolution of the light field camera: the Lytro Illum. Physically, it appears much more in-line with traditional point-and-shoot cameras than its radical predecessor, with an angled display screen that gives the profile of the camera big points on both character factor and, I’d imagine, ergonomics. I’ve also read in some hands-on reviews that it feels remarkably light, weighing in at less than two pounds…yes, that lens that looks like a cumbersome beast apparently weights only half a pound.

As pretty as the Illum is on the outside, it isn’t until you take a look at what’s inside that you can get a sense for how revolutionary this camera really is. The Illum uses a patented micro-lens array that captures data about color, light direction and intensity, storing this data for later use. This is the key difference between light field cameras and other cameras, which generally don’t give you much control over the photo once it’s been taken. A special Lytro button enables a helpful UI overlay that outlines the contours of objects in the shot, giving a sense of depth and a preview of how the image’s focus will be able to be adjusted by its viewers.

Perhaps the biggest kicker of all is the price tag. Looking at a piece of technology as revolutionary as this, you might instantly assume that it’s going to run tens of thousands of dollars. Wrong. It’s being listed at around $1,599 USD, which isn’t exactly cheap, but in the photography field it actually is very affordable. In his original post, Jon finished it off by opening the table for ideas on how this technology could be applied to great effect. One can’t help but think of all the possibilities when you look at technology like this: how would you use the Lytro Illum differently than you would your usual camera? Or, which of your favorite photographers would you like to see use a camera like this?

A few images from my travels through Chile this past December. Featured here are locations in the Atacama Desert, including Valle de la Luna, Salar de Atacama and Mano del Desierto. There are also two images from Santiago, which happen to be the final shots I captured with my D600 before having it taken from me at knifepoint a couple days later in Valparaiso. Fortunately, I had a back-up camera and was able to capture the trip north into the Atacama.

I decided to check up with one of my favorite photographers Matthias to see what he has been up to. The above are some of his favorites from the recent Reflexionen/Reflexiones series shot in Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Hamburg. I asked him a few questions that he was kind enough to answer:

Where are you from?
I just moved from Berlin to Hamburg.

How did you get into photography?
In 2008, I was 26 then, I bought my first camera, this was shortly after I had moved to Berlin to write my thesis in computational linguistics. Photography has never been of great interest to me before that point, but I quickly became obsessed photographing Berlin’s architecture. I’m completely self-taught and I’m still learning new things about photography on a daily basis.

Do you have any other passions/hobbies besides awesome photography?
I’m a hobby musician and I’m DJing from time to time. I also enjoy hiking and riding my bike.

Do you have a favorite city to explore?
There are too many to mention and there are so many cities I haven’t been to so far. I really enjoy exploring, so maybe it’s not too important which city it is. But well, I guess it’s not a secret I like Berlin a lot…

Is there a specific place that you would love to photograph in the future?
A roadtrip through Japan would be great.

Any albums or artists on repeat?
Currently on repeat: Morgan Delt, Group Rhoda, PVT, Raime, E.R.P. / Convextion